


Even Heroes Need a Hand

by some_fantastic



Category: The Following
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-01-25
Updated: 2013-01-25
Packaged: 2017-11-26 21:08:00
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 610
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/654430
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/some_fantastic/pseuds/some_fantastic
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Mike knows.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Even Heroes Need a Hand

**Author's Note:**

> A little drabble from Mike's point of view. He is so in love with Ryan it's ridiculous.

Mike isn't stupid, no matter what Ryan Hardy thinks. He _knows_. He could have chosen to do his thesis on literally any subject, but he picked the Carroll case. Why? Ryan Hardy is a hero. _He's_ the one who stopped Carroll, almost singlehandedly. He might have broken the rules, but that's what put the killer behind bars. Something about that struck Mike as heroic. He did what he had to, no matter what the cost. In that case, it was Ryan's departure from the FBI. The hero was no more. And the story ended, as far as the general public was concerned.

So maybe he got a little too interested, and his research didn't stop when the thesis did. Mike had always been a sucker for a good hero. That explained the stacks of comic books in his bedroom. The best heroes weren't the extraordinary ones. No, the heroes he favoured were real people, the ones who had flaws. Nobody was perfect, least of all Ryan Hardy. Mike had done his homework, see. He'd never really stopped researching. Ryan Hardy was the ultimate subject. Mike was pretty sure he knew more about him than anybody else on the team. So when he heard that Hardy was coming _back_...

Well there was a reason he had become an FBI agent, wasn't there? Ryan Hardy was that whole reason.

Okay, maybe he was a little bit of a fanboy. But when he had heard that he'd be meeting Ryan Hardy, that he'd be _working_ with him...it would be stupid not to be prepared. He'd stumbled over his first meeting, unfortunately. But seeing him in the audience had thrown him. And then Hardy had actually gone up and started speaking. It was just like he had imagined. Ryan Hardy knew more than anybody. He could tell when they had made eye contact; Hardy had already written him off. He was just another dumb kid, fresh out of school. That only made Mike even more determined to prove himself. He would do whatever he could to make Ryan proud.

The woman had shaken him up a little. People died all the time, sure, but rarely did they _stab themselves in the freaking eye_ with an ice pick. Mike almost wanted to freak out. But he kept his calm. Deep breaths, he reminded himself. Besides, he wasn't the only one who was a little worried. Maybe it was the stress. He was probably looking into it too much. But Ryan looked a little nervous too. Pulled out a water bottle to take a drink. Mike had seen enough when he was younger, and he'd learned more at school. If that was water, then he was one of the X-Men. But he didn't say that out loud. They needed Ryan, in whatever condition he was in. Getting him kicked off the team would be like working backwards. So instead, Mike pasted on a smile, pulled out the tin of mints he had taken to carrying around. You could never be too careful. And then Ryan accepted one, and that was that.

Something passed between them in that moment. Maybe he had imagined it. But Mike _knew_. And he was willing to bet his badge that Ryan knew too. Most of all, Ryan knew that Mike understood. _You can trust me_ , he wanted to say. _I can keep your secrets_. But they didn't say anything else. Ryan thanked him. Mike nodded, smiled some more. But he _knew_. If Ryan needed a friend, he'd be there. Because that was the other thing he had learned from all those comics.

Sometimes heroes needed a hero of their own.


End file.
